WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:00.719 Well hey Alderwood. 00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:02.240 It's great to be with you this morning. 00:00:02.399 --> 00:00:03.520 This is Vision Sunday. 00:00:03.600 --> 00:00:04.160 Welcome. 00:00:04.320 --> 00:00:05.679 One Sunday a year. 00:00:05.919 --> 00:00:08.800 We take a step back and we try to look at the big picture. 00:00:08.880 --> 00:00:13.359 We try to ask the question, Jesus, where are you leading our church right now? 00:00:13.519 --> 00:00:15.039 What are you calling us to? 00:00:15.119 --> 00:00:17.519 And we call it Vision Sunday, and it's today. 00:00:18.079 --> 00:00:19.280 We're going to do just that this morning. 00:00:19.359 --> 00:00:21.120 We're going to try to see the big picture. 00:00:21.280 --> 00:00:26.239 And, you know, I think honestly, seeing the big picture is not something that human beings are great at. 00:00:26.320 --> 00:00:31.359 We're much better at just the small details of what's right in front of our face. 00:00:31.519 --> 00:00:33.600 I was kind of laughing at that in this last season. 00:00:33.840 --> 00:00:36.240 I was assistant coaching T-ball for the first time. 00:00:36.320 --> 00:00:38.000 My son Thatcher was playing T-ball. 00:00:38.079 --> 00:00:40.240 We did a really bad job of taking photos this year. 00:00:40.320 --> 00:00:41.840 So here's one at the back of his head. 00:00:42.079 --> 00:00:49.840 And uh I just, it was so funny doing t-ball because it's the hardest sport for kids to grasp at this age. 00:00:49.920 --> 00:00:55.920 Like all the other ones you just kind of get, you know, soccer, kick it in the goal, basketball, shoot it in the hoop, golf, hit it in the hole. 00:00:56.079 --> 00:01:00.799 Baseball, it's like there's runs, there's not points, there's bases, home plate, where do I stand? 00:01:00.880 --> 00:01:01.600 I mean, just all the stuff. 00:01:01.679 --> 00:01:03.840 It's just such a big thing that you don't grasp at all. 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:08.959 And so defense turns into something that is just unrecognizable if you know the game of baseball. 00:01:09.040 --> 00:01:20.319 Like what happens is the kids, some kid hits the ball, and on defense, every kid from every position, the outfield, the infield, everywhere, just runs to be the first one to get to the ball. 00:01:20.480 --> 00:01:28.640 And they run into the ball, and then the kids take their gloves and they just put it on top of the ball like this to keep their own teammates from getting the ball away from them. 00:01:28.719 --> 00:01:28.959 Okay. 00:01:29.120 --> 00:01:30.400 There's no throwing to first base. 00:01:30.480 --> 00:01:32.079 There's no one standing on first base to throw it to. 00:01:32.159 --> 00:01:33.840 The first baseman ran to where the ball was, too. 00:01:33.920 --> 00:01:40.560 You know, so it's just this funny thing where they're just obsessed with the ball, like whatever's in front of their face, that's what they care about. 00:01:40.719 --> 00:01:46.719 The big picture of the game, of the of what they're supposed to do with it, of what the, you know, it just no one knows. 00:01:46.879 --> 00:01:47.760 No one knows. 00:01:48.079 --> 00:01:50.000 And it's so funny to see that. 00:01:50.079 --> 00:01:54.239 You know, it's fun to kind of poke fun at our kids in at this stage of life in particular. 00:01:54.480 --> 00:01:56.879 But this really is a human trait. 00:01:57.040 --> 00:02:07.359 And we get more sophisticated as we get older, but we still have this propensity to really just focus on the here and now, on what's in front of our face, to miss the big picture often. 00:02:07.439 --> 00:02:31.680 And as followers of Jesus, what that means is often we miss the story of God that is all around us, uh, the amazing, beautiful truth of this God of this universe who created us and knows us intimately, who made us in his image, who has a purpose for our lives here and now, who's wanting to work and is inviting us in to what he's doing all around us. 00:02:31.759 --> 00:02:34.639 And so often we we just don't see it. 00:02:35.039 --> 00:02:38.639 There's an amazing story of that reality that I want to share with you this morning. 00:02:38.719 --> 00:02:40.400 It's in John chapter four. 00:02:40.479 --> 00:02:41.759 Uh, it's a very well-known story. 00:02:41.840 --> 00:02:42.719 You may have heard it before. 00:02:42.800 --> 00:02:45.199 It's the story of the woman at the well. 00:02:45.520 --> 00:02:53.360 And it's this moment where Jesus is doing something incredible, and his disciples are completely missing it. 00:02:53.680 --> 00:02:59.280 And he uses the moment to teach the disciples about life with him, about what he's inviting them into. 00:02:59.439 --> 00:03:06.560 And I want to share it with you because I think what Jesus has to say to his disciples is also what he has to say to us today through his word. 00:03:06.719 --> 00:03:07.840 And so we're gonna look at that together. 00:03:07.919 --> 00:03:11.039 But first, I just want to share with you the story before we look at what Jesus has to teach. 00:03:11.199 --> 00:03:14.960 Uh, Jesus and the disciples, they're they've been traveling, they're teaching. 00:03:15.039 --> 00:03:17.120 Jesus is teaching, and huge crowds are coming. 00:03:17.199 --> 00:03:21.120 He's doing miracles, he's become very famous, and they're going all over the region. 00:03:21.360 --> 00:03:24.639 And Jesus has led them through an area right now called Samaria. 00:03:24.960 --> 00:03:34.159 And the Samaritans live in Samaria, and this is kind of hostile territory for Jesus and his disciples because the Jews and the Samaritans, uh, they are enemies. 00:03:34.400 --> 00:03:38.319 Religiously, they're at odds with each other, ethnically, they're at odds with each other. 00:03:38.400 --> 00:03:44.080 Uh, they do not associate, they don't talk to each other, they ignore one another, they're they're not friends. 00:03:44.240 --> 00:03:47.280 But that's where Jesus has led them at this point. 00:03:47.680 --> 00:03:51.840 And as they've been traveling, uh, they've apparently been out for some time. 00:03:51.919 --> 00:03:54.159 They're out of supplies, they have no more food. 00:03:54.319 --> 00:03:58.159 And so Jesus sends his disciples into town to go buy what they need. 00:03:58.319 --> 00:04:05.759 And Jesus sits down to rest, and he finds the village well, and he sits down at the well, and he's by himself. 00:04:06.080 --> 00:04:10.319 And that's when this Samaritan woman arrives. 00:04:10.479 --> 00:04:16.959 And as she's approaching this well, no doubt, she expects Jesus to ignore her. 00:04:17.120 --> 00:04:19.920 That's how Jews and Samaritans treat each other. 00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:23.040 They they pretend like they don't exist, and she expects that from Jesus. 00:04:23.199 --> 00:04:27.360 She expects him not to look her in the eye, she expects him certainly not to talk to her. 00:04:27.759 --> 00:04:30.560 But you know Jesus, that's not how Jesus rolls. 00:04:30.720 --> 00:04:38.560 And she gets there, she's she puts her bucket down the well, and Jesus speaks up, and he actually asks her for a drink of water. 00:04:39.120 --> 00:04:43.040 And she's shocked that Jesus is engaging with her at all. 00:04:43.759 --> 00:04:48.480 But she's even more surprised that he goes on, he he starts an actual conversation with her. 00:04:48.639 --> 00:04:55.360 Jesus asks her for water, but he also offers her water as well. 00:04:55.519 --> 00:04:59.199 Jesus says, I have living water to give you. 00:04:59.519 --> 00:05:04.160 Water that when you drink of it once, you'll never be thirsty again. 00:05:05.439 --> 00:05:08.160 And she doesn't know what to make of Jesus, right? 00:05:08.319 --> 00:05:10.560 I mean, she she thinks he might be kind of a crazy person. 00:05:10.639 --> 00:05:12.079 She's like, You don't even have a bucket. 00:05:12.160 --> 00:05:14.879 Uh, where are you gonna get this living water from? 00:05:15.279 --> 00:05:20.240 And she doesn't know it, of course, but Jesus is talking about eternal life. 00:05:21.279 --> 00:05:32.639 And and she might dismiss him until she realizes that Jesus knows her more deeply than any stranger could possibly know her. 00:05:33.199 --> 00:05:35.279 Jesus says, Are you married? 00:05:35.600 --> 00:05:36.959 And she says, No. 00:05:37.839 --> 00:05:42.240 And Jesus says, Yeah, I I know that you're not married. 00:05:42.480 --> 00:05:48.000 Actually, you've been married five times, and the man that you're living with now isn't your husband. 00:05:48.879 --> 00:05:52.240 And I mean, you can imagine her eyes getting wide at that point. 00:05:52.319 --> 00:05:56.959 Uh Jesus is putting his finger on probably what is like the deepest shame in this woman's life. 00:05:57.040 --> 00:06:06.560 You know, in in our culture today, which is very sexually permissive, uh, even in our culture, being married five times is not something you would wear as a badge of pride. 00:06:06.800 --> 00:06:17.920 But imagine in that culture, I mean, that conservative culture, uh, you know, that sort of sordid sexual past is something that would make someone an outcast. 00:06:18.240 --> 00:06:22.399 And Jesus calls it out, but not to shame her. 00:06:23.040 --> 00:06:31.279 He calls it out to say, I know you, I know your story, and I still have something to offer you. 00:06:31.360 --> 00:06:34.480 I want to give you eternal life. 00:06:34.800 --> 00:06:41.279 This woman has an encounter with Jesus that day that changes her life, and it's unfolding right there at the well. 00:06:41.439 --> 00:06:44.959 And that is when the disciples show up. 00:06:45.439 --> 00:06:50.240 They encounter Jesus and this woman, and they don't know what to make of it. 00:06:50.319 --> 00:06:52.399 This is verse 27, John chapter 4. 00:06:52.560 --> 00:07:00.879 It says, just then his disciples arrived, and they were amazed that he was talking with a woman. 00:07:01.279 --> 00:07:04.240 Yet no one said, What do you want? 00:07:04.480 --> 00:07:06.959 Or why are you talking with her? 00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:12.959 They show up and, you know, from the distance, they see Jesus in this figure, and as they get closer, they realize there's a woman. 00:07:13.040 --> 00:07:15.920 As they get even closer, they realize this is a Samaritan woman. 00:07:16.160 --> 00:07:28.560 And, you know, we don't know if they know anything about her, maybe not, but if they did, they'd be even more surprised that Jesus is putting his reputation at risk by talking with a woman with you know such a bad history. 00:07:28.720 --> 00:07:31.839 They're amazed that Jesus is having this encounter at all. 00:07:32.240 --> 00:07:38.240 But what's so interesting is that we're told that they don't ask about it. 00:07:39.120 --> 00:07:41.279 They see Jesus doing something. 00:07:41.439 --> 00:07:45.759 Jesus is at work here, and they're not curious. 00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:52.639 They see this woman as uh, I don't know, an inconvenience, a threat of some kind to Jesus' reputation. 00:07:52.959 --> 00:07:55.759 Uh and they've got their own thing going on. 00:07:55.839 --> 00:07:57.600 And so they just wait for the woman to leave. 00:07:57.680 --> 00:07:58.240 And she does. 00:07:58.399 --> 00:08:05.839 The woman leaves, she goes back to her village, and she's actually going to tell everyone she knows about Jesus, but the disciples don't know that. 00:08:06.160 --> 00:08:08.800 The disciples, their mind is elsewhere. 00:08:08.959 --> 00:08:13.920 Okay, the woman leaves, and and while she's gone, this is what we're told in verses 31 and 32. 00:08:14.079 --> 00:08:19.600 In the meantime, the disciples kept urging him, Rabbi, eat something. 00:08:20.319 --> 00:08:25.199 But he said, I have food to eat that you don't know about. 00:08:26.480 --> 00:08:31.600 Okay, Jesus is doing this amazing work in the life of this woman. 00:08:31.839 --> 00:08:34.320 Uh what's on the disciples' mind? 00:08:35.519 --> 00:08:36.080 Lunch. 00:08:36.799 --> 00:08:37.679 That's what they're thinking about. 00:08:37.840 --> 00:08:42.159 Now we can laugh at them, but I know a lot of the time when I'm up here talking, you're thinking about lunch too. 00:08:42.240 --> 00:08:46.159 Okay, so uh we've all been there and they haven't eaten in a while. 00:08:46.240 --> 00:08:47.440 We don't know maybe many days actually. 00:08:47.519 --> 00:08:49.360 They know Jesus is hungry, they're trying to be good friends, actually. 00:08:49.440 --> 00:08:51.120 It's like Jesus, you you need to fuel up, man. 00:08:51.200 --> 00:08:53.840 You need some nourishment, like eat some bread. 00:08:53.919 --> 00:08:59.279 And Jesus is saying that he's got food that they don't know anything about, and they're like, Jesus, where's what food are you talking about? 00:08:59.360 --> 00:09:00.159 He's been holding out on us. 00:09:00.240 --> 00:09:01.519 Where's the secret stash, man? 00:09:01.600 --> 00:09:04.159 Uh they they they totally miss what he's what he's saying. 00:09:04.399 --> 00:09:10.480 But see, what Jesus is actually doing here is he's saying, Look, you guys are so consumed with the here and now. 00:09:10.639 --> 00:09:16.639 You're consumed with what we're eating today, and that's that's fine, but there's a bigger story. 00:09:16.799 --> 00:09:23.039 Uh I'm about something here that is beyond what you're even thinking right now. 00:09:23.200 --> 00:09:25.120 I have food that you know nothing about. 00:09:25.279 --> 00:09:38.960 And he takes this moment to teach, and he teaches them about what life is like with Jesus, about what it means to follow him and to see the reality that God is at work all around us, and he's inviting us into it. 00:09:39.200 --> 00:09:47.600 Jesus teaches this point, and I want us to get it this morning as well, that God is writing an amazing story of redemption, and he wants us to be a part of it. 00:09:47.919 --> 00:09:51.519 He turns to his disciples and says, Uh, I want you to be a part of this story. 00:09:51.679 --> 00:09:52.960 Will you have eyes to see it? 00:09:53.039 --> 00:09:57.039 The first thing he he tells them is this reality that God is already working. 00:09:57.200 --> 00:09:59.120 He says, Do you get why we're here? 00:09:59.360 --> 00:10:00.639 God is doing something. 00:10:00.879 --> 00:10:02.320 So, so open your eyes, look around. 00:10:02.399 --> 00:10:04.559 This is what Jesus says in John 4 34. 00:10:04.639 --> 00:10:15.279 He says, This food that I have that you don't know about, well, my food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work, Jesus told them. 00:10:16.399 --> 00:10:23.519 This is Jesus' view of himself, of the world around, that God has been at work, the work of his Father who sent him. 00:10:23.840 --> 00:10:26.159 From the very beginning, God has been at work. 00:10:26.320 --> 00:10:34.720 From the fall on, God has been pursuing humanity with his grace, with his mercy, with his love, he's been working to redeem us. 00:10:34.879 --> 00:10:38.720 And Jesus says, I've been sent to finish that work. 00:10:38.960 --> 00:10:41.679 His disciples don't know it yet, but he's talking about the cross. 00:10:41.840 --> 00:10:49.360 Jesus is going to bear our sin on himself, to pay the penalty we could never pay, to uh to give us eternal life that we don't deserve. 00:10:49.519 --> 00:10:52.080 He's finishing the redemptive work of God. 00:10:52.240 --> 00:10:56.639 He says, That's why I'm here to complete the work that God's already been doing. 00:10:57.360 --> 00:11:04.000 And then Jesus goes on and he says, Look, and it's not just me who has a part to play in God's plan and in the story of God. 00:11:04.159 --> 00:11:05.840 It's you too. 00:11:12.320 --> 00:11:12.879 This is what he says. 00:11:12.960 --> 00:11:18.240 It's gonna be a little bit hard for us to grasp it at first because he's using metaphors from a world that most of us don't live in. 00:11:18.320 --> 00:11:19.360 But let's look at what he has to say. 00:11:19.519 --> 00:11:20.720 John 4 35. 00:11:21.039 --> 00:11:26.879 Jesus says, Don't you say there are still four more months and then comes the harvest. 00:11:27.519 --> 00:11:29.279 Listen to what I'm telling you. 00:11:29.440 --> 00:11:35.360 Open your eyes and look at the fields, because they are ready for harvest. 00:11:36.320 --> 00:11:38.720 Now that obviously just resonates with all of us, right? 00:11:38.799 --> 00:11:41.039 Like, don't you always say there's four months and then the harvest? 00:11:41.120 --> 00:11:42.000 I mean, I'm saying that all the time. 00:11:42.080 --> 00:11:43.519 I'm why not saying that. 00:11:43.679 --> 00:11:47.200 Uh, this is uh an agricultural saying, okay. 00:11:47.360 --> 00:11:50.480 So this is a world where almost everybody is a farmer at this point. 00:11:50.559 --> 00:11:52.080 And this is a saying about patience. 00:11:52.159 --> 00:11:55.279 What does it mean that there's still four more months and then comes the harvest? 00:11:55.519 --> 00:11:58.960 Well, if you're a farmer, you work super hard, okay? 00:11:59.120 --> 00:12:02.720 You you till the ground, you plant the seeds, you water, you do all this work. 00:12:02.879 --> 00:12:07.120 But then actually a huge part of the job is waiting, is patience. 00:12:07.279 --> 00:12:10.639 Like once you've done the hard work, you've just got to wait and see what happens. 00:12:10.720 --> 00:12:17.759 So there's this saying about patience of like, look, there's four more months until we're really going to see the fruit of any of our labor. 00:12:18.399 --> 00:12:22.639 Uh I don't know this personally very well, but I did get a glimpse of it this summer. 00:12:22.799 --> 00:12:34.080 My my mom started growing uh tomatoes in her backyard, and she has been trying to get my kids to understand the patience of waiting for things to grow because my kids will run in that backyard and pick any tomato they see. 00:12:34.159 --> 00:12:37.759 Like it doesn't matter if it's ripe, green, red, whatever, like they're just picking it. 00:12:37.919 --> 00:12:41.519 So there's this part of like things you're growing of just chill out and wait. 00:12:41.600 --> 00:12:41.919 Okay. 00:12:43.120 --> 00:12:47.120 But what Jesus is saying here is actually the opposite. 00:12:47.360 --> 00:12:52.960 He's saying, you know, the saying, there's four more months until the harvest, but no, no, no, listen to what I'm saying. 00:12:53.519 --> 00:12:59.919 Open your eyes and look at the fields because they are ready for harvest. 00:13:00.399 --> 00:13:02.000 The time is now. 00:13:02.639 --> 00:13:04.480 What is Jesus talking about? 00:13:04.879 --> 00:13:16.960 He is talking about the reality that God has been at work for a long, long time, and he has been preparing people to respond to what he's about to do through Jesus. 00:13:17.279 --> 00:13:25.440 And he says, the moment is now to call people to respond in faith, to repent and believe, because the kingdom is here. 00:13:25.679 --> 00:13:28.000 Jesus has come, and you have a role. 00:13:28.080 --> 00:13:36.799 So he goes on, he says, This the reaper is already receiving pay and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper can rejoice together. 00:13:37.279 --> 00:13:43.360 For in this case, the saying is true: one sows and another reaps. 00:13:44.080 --> 00:13:48.639 I sent you to reap what you didn't labor for. 00:13:49.120 --> 00:13:53.600 Others have labored and you have benefited from their labor. 00:13:54.720 --> 00:13:56.000 Do you get what he's saying here? 00:13:56.879 --> 00:13:59.360 Says, I'm sending you out right now. 00:13:59.840 --> 00:13:59.919 Okay. 00:14:00.240 --> 00:14:04.320 And your job is to bring the news of the kingdom of God that's arrived. 00:14:04.480 --> 00:14:06.879 Your job is to invite people to respond to Jesus. 00:14:07.039 --> 00:14:11.200 And basically, Jesus is saying, Look, you get the fun part of all this, okay? 00:14:11.679 --> 00:14:16.879 God has been working for centuries, for millennia, to get us to this point. 00:14:17.039 --> 00:14:22.080 He's been preparing the way, other people he's used to sow the seeds to get us here. 00:14:22.240 --> 00:14:26.879 But right now, your job is to go and reap, and you get to be a part of this beautiful thing that God is doing. 00:14:27.039 --> 00:14:36.320 You get to see people's lives changed by just being faithful and going into the harvest to reap what's already been sowed. 00:14:39.039 --> 00:14:42.399 If we're gonna follow Jesus together, and that's our mission here at Alderwood. 00:14:42.559 --> 00:14:46.960 We want to be a community that walks together and we follow Jesus. 00:14:47.279 --> 00:14:51.120 We have to understand about something that it means to be a follower of Jesus. 00:14:51.279 --> 00:14:57.039 That that metaphor that Jesus uses, it's not an accident, that life with Jesus is following him. 00:14:57.600 --> 00:14:58.720 It implies some things. 00:14:58.799 --> 00:15:15.039 It implies that life with Jesus is about movement, that Jesus is going somewhere, that he's not gonna leave us where we are, that Jesus is at work around us in the world right now, that he's on a mission, that he's going, and he's inviting us to come with him. 00:15:15.200 --> 00:15:18.799 The question is, are we gonna stay put or are we gonna go? 00:15:19.200 --> 00:15:30.960 If we want to follow Jesus together, then we need to become people who have eyes to see what he's doing in the world and who who go to join him in it. 00:15:32.240 --> 00:15:34.159 What does that look like for us? 00:15:34.639 --> 00:15:38.159 Yeah, it's it's so easy to miss, like I said at the beginning. 00:15:38.320 --> 00:15:47.120 You know, that's that's the point of this story is that this this story of redemption, this amazing work of Jesus, it's happening right in front of the disciples' face. 00:15:47.360 --> 00:15:49.679 I mean, this Samaritan's woman's life is being changed. 00:15:49.759 --> 00:15:54.159 They don't they don't know it yet, but she's just run back and she's told her whole village about Jesus. 00:15:54.320 --> 00:15:57.679 And many more people are gonna believe in Jesus and receive salvation. 00:15:57.759 --> 00:15:59.360 I mean, this incredible thing is happening. 00:15:59.519 --> 00:16:02.080 And they show up and they're like, yeah, so let's eat lunch. 00:16:02.399 --> 00:16:03.120 How does that sound? 00:16:03.200 --> 00:16:04.799 You know, they just miss it. 00:16:05.200 --> 00:16:14.639 And, you know, it's so easy in so many stories of the Bible to kind of laugh at the disciples until we realize the disciples are us. 00:16:15.039 --> 00:16:18.240 Like in every story, basically, the disciples are us. 00:16:18.480 --> 00:16:24.080 Like, we're the ones who can miss the work that God is doing right in front of our face. 00:16:24.480 --> 00:16:25.840 And it's so easy to do. 00:16:26.080 --> 00:16:27.679 I mean, I I don't know about you. 00:16:27.759 --> 00:16:31.600 I I have a lot going on in my mind right now. 00:16:31.759 --> 00:16:33.440 I have a lot going on in my life. 00:16:33.600 --> 00:16:36.080 I have a long list of things I'm trying to get done. 00:16:36.159 --> 00:16:42.799 I have a long list of things that I that I worry about, long list of things that I want to see happen in my world. 00:16:42.960 --> 00:16:46.559 How long is the list of things in your head right now that you're concerned with? 00:16:46.799 --> 00:16:48.960 I mean, I'll just give you a glimpse into my mind right now. 00:16:49.120 --> 00:16:57.519 I mean, just a random assortment of things like school starting in a couple weeks, my kids are starting first and second grade, and so we got school supply lists we're trying to check off. 00:16:57.600 --> 00:17:05.920 We're we're doing the school clothes inventory, we're deciding whether or not it's appropriate for my son to exclusively wear Pokemon branded shirts to school. 00:17:06.160 --> 00:17:11.920 Uh, you know, we're getting emails about, you know, back to school night, parent volunteers, the PTA, all of that. 00:17:12.079 --> 00:17:13.680 We're acting like we might be interested. 00:17:13.839 --> 00:17:16.799 And we've got other things, you know, on our mind as well. 00:17:17.279 --> 00:17:24.079 We've got friends we're reaching out to right now that want to get dinner and we feel horrible because we've rescheduled twice and we want to see them, but we just don't know when it's gonna happen. 00:17:24.240 --> 00:17:25.200 My wife is at a job. 00:17:25.279 --> 00:17:27.039 We're wondering if that's the right place for her right now. 00:17:27.119 --> 00:17:27.519 We're not sure. 00:17:27.599 --> 00:17:28.480 There might be something else. 00:17:28.559 --> 00:17:29.839 Should she be looking? 00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:33.920 We're trying to get a house ready to sell, and that's a whole saga that I won't get into. 00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:37.920 We're trying to build another house, and and again, don't need to get into all the details. 00:17:38.000 --> 00:17:43.440 I just hope you never ever have to learn the process of trying to build a house in the city of Edmonds. 00:17:43.519 --> 00:17:44.400 Just stay away. 00:17:44.480 --> 00:17:46.160 Uh, and I mean, just on and on. 00:17:46.240 --> 00:17:49.279 I'm getting ready to respond to all the angry emails with the service times changing. 00:17:49.359 --> 00:17:51.759 I mean, just the long list of things in my mind. 00:17:51.920 --> 00:17:55.519 I'll stop there because you don't care. 00:17:55.680 --> 00:18:01.119 And uh and also, you know, your list is just as long and probably more stressful. 00:18:01.359 --> 00:18:02.720 But this is life, right? 00:18:02.880 --> 00:18:05.920 Like the here and now can be overwhelming. 00:18:06.880 --> 00:18:13.759 And here's the thing um Jesus isn't like frustrated with you about that. 00:18:14.160 --> 00:18:18.400 The the disciples aren't in trouble because they were thinking about lunch. 00:18:18.559 --> 00:18:19.359 Lunch is good. 00:18:19.440 --> 00:18:22.079 Uh uh, God wants you to eat lunch, okay. 00:18:23.279 --> 00:18:33.279 What Jesus wants is for the here and now to not blind us to the bigger story, to the more important, to the eternal. 00:18:33.599 --> 00:18:45.519 Because when lunch is getting in the way of you caring about the life change and the spiritual reality of what's right in front of you, that's the problem because we're missing out on what God has for us. 00:18:46.319 --> 00:18:56.559 So as we look ahead to what God's doing right here at Alderwood, as we look to be people who follow Jesus together, I want to ask that question how do we not miss it? 00:18:56.880 --> 00:19:05.200 And there's really two questions I want to ask uh this morning, two questions I want you to ask yourself as we look at what God might be doing here at Alderwood. 00:19:05.279 --> 00:19:09.920 And the first is this Who has God sent you to? 00:19:11.119 --> 00:19:14.720 See, Jesus tells the disciples, look, I have sent you into the harvest. 00:19:14.799 --> 00:19:19.839 If you're a follower of Jesus, he has sent you into the harvests. 00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:22.720 Not he might or he, you know, someone may come into your life. 00:19:22.799 --> 00:19:23.759 He he has. 00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:30.400 He has put you around people right here and right now who don't know Jesus but who do know you. 00:19:30.480 --> 00:19:32.160 And he has a purpose in that. 00:19:32.319 --> 00:19:34.000 There's a story going on. 00:19:34.319 --> 00:19:40.640 God is already pursuing the people in your life who you know that don't know Jesus. 00:19:40.880 --> 00:19:46.400 He started long before you ever even asked the question of if he had a role for you to play. 00:19:46.640 --> 00:19:47.599 But he does. 00:19:48.960 --> 00:19:54.880 And so when you see those people, do you have eyes to see the bigger story? 00:19:55.279 --> 00:20:08.079 See, that's what the disciples missed when they saw the Samaritan woman, they saw an inconvenience, they saw a threat, maybe they saw like, ooh, this wouldn't look good if Jesus was seen with her. 00:20:08.160 --> 00:20:11.759 Like they wanted to kind of pull Jesus aside and tell him about the Billy Graham rule. 00:20:11.920 --> 00:20:17.680 And uh and they just missed this amazing work of God right before them. 00:20:19.279 --> 00:20:20.640 Are we missing it? 00:20:21.519 --> 00:20:44.319 When you pull into your driveway and you lock eyes with your neighbor, when you show up to work and you you engage with the people that you work with, like, do you just see the stuff in front of you, or do you realize that these are people made in the image of God, that God desperately is pursuing with his grace and with his love, that God has a story that's playing out in their life and he wants you to be a part of it? 00:20:44.559 --> 00:20:47.599 Can we have eyes to see that as a church? 00:20:48.000 --> 00:20:55.440 I would love for you to make a commitment this morning as as names come to mind, as those relationships are brought to you by the Spirit. 00:20:55.599 --> 00:20:58.480 Um, would you make a commitment this morning to be a part of their story? 00:20:58.640 --> 00:20:59.839 And here's what that looks like. 00:21:00.160 --> 00:21:03.680 Would you commit to pray, invest, and invite? 00:21:04.079 --> 00:21:10.640 These people that Jesus has already sent you to, would you start by saying, I'm gonna pray for them every day? 00:21:10.880 --> 00:21:12.720 I'm gonna pray for their relationship with God. 00:21:12.880 --> 00:21:21.119 I'm gonna pray that they would be drawn to Him, I'm gonna pray that they would place their faith in Jesus, I'm gonna pray for opportunities to be a part of their life. 00:21:21.519 --> 00:21:24.240 Let's pray for the people that God has sent us to. 00:21:24.480 --> 00:21:26.880 Secondly, would you invest in them? 00:21:27.440 --> 00:21:31.599 Would you pursue relationships with these people that God has sent you to? 00:21:31.759 --> 00:21:36.480 Would you show up in their life and be an example of the love of Jesus and the way they know you? 00:21:36.640 --> 00:21:39.359 Would you ask them how they're doing, ask them their story? 00:21:39.440 --> 00:21:42.079 Would you invest in these relationships? 00:21:42.319 --> 00:21:47.359 And then lastly, will you invite them to take a step of faith? 00:21:47.759 --> 00:21:51.200 And that step of faith, it might just be having a spiritual conversation. 00:21:51.440 --> 00:21:57.440 It might be the invitation to come to church with you and to check this out and hear the word of God preached. 00:21:57.599 --> 00:21:59.759 And the invitation it might be to respond. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:03.680 In faith that who Jesus is, if you have the opportunity to share that with them. 00:22:04.319 --> 00:22:09.279 But you have a part to play in the story that God is writing right now all around you. 00:22:09.599 --> 00:22:10.319 Will you go? 00:22:10.480 --> 00:22:11.200 Will you be sent? 00:22:11.359 --> 00:22:14.160 Will you pray, invest, and invite? 00:22:14.640 --> 00:22:21.759 Can you just imagine the stories that we may get to celebrate, that we may get to be a part of? 00:22:21.839 --> 00:22:26.720 If it as a church, as a community, we take this on together in faith. 00:22:27.279 --> 00:22:30.799 Second question that I have for you is from a little bit different angle. 00:22:30.880 --> 00:22:33.759 You know, we all have our own stories, we have our own lives. 00:22:34.000 --> 00:22:35.440 You know people that I don't know. 00:22:35.599 --> 00:22:38.640 God has sent you places that I will never go. 00:22:39.279 --> 00:22:51.200 But also, God is writing a story right here at Alderwood, and there is something that he has for us as a community in his plan for redemption all around us. 00:22:51.359 --> 00:23:05.039 Uh, you know, when when Jesus talks about how the world is gonna come to know who he is, how the world is gonna believe that that God really sent him, it's interesting how Jesus thinks that's gonna happen. 00:23:05.119 --> 00:23:16.079 What Jesus says when he when he's praying in John 17 is he said, the world's gonna believe that I sent you because of the unity of his followers and because of the way that we love one another. 00:23:16.240 --> 00:23:30.640 That the world's gonna see this community of people who are loving one another in a way that Jesus has loved us, and that is gonna be the thing that catches the attention of the world, that they're gonna see there's something there, there's something real about this that I need to lean into. 00:23:31.279 --> 00:23:43.599 And so as we think about who we are as a church and what God's calling us to be right here, right now, the question I would love for you to ask yourself is how can you help make Alderwood a community that reflects Jesus? 00:23:44.880 --> 00:23:48.160 There's already a story of what God is doing here at Alderwood. 00:23:48.240 --> 00:23:53.200 It started long before any of us, you know, uh more than a hundred years ago. 00:23:53.279 --> 00:23:56.160 Alderwood was planted right here and it was chicken farms. 00:23:56.240 --> 00:23:56.880 That's all it was. 00:23:56.960 --> 00:23:58.799 There was no train yet that came this way. 00:23:58.880 --> 00:24:05.680 There was no certainly no freeways, uh, none of that, just some faithful followers of Jesus starting a Bible study. 00:24:05.920 --> 00:24:08.000 And yet God knew what he was doing. 00:24:08.079 --> 00:24:22.319 He knew that he wanted this community to be here now, in this moment, as Linwood is growing up around us, as 405 and i5 drive right past here, as as countless people know that there's a community of Jesus followers here. 00:24:22.480 --> 00:24:46.720 And he has a purpose that he's inviting us into, that we would be a city on the hill, that we would be a light in darkness, that our community, that our neighbors would get to see a reality, that we get to see a glimpse of the eternal, not just in our individual lives, but in our community, in the way that we love each other like Jesus has loved us. 00:24:48.079 --> 00:24:50.960 And so, what is your role to play in that? 00:24:51.359 --> 00:25:02.240 And I just want to be honest with you, I think it's gonna, it's gonna take more from us than what has become the normal way that Americans engage with church. 00:25:02.400 --> 00:25:03.920 Okay, do you know what I mean? 00:25:04.079 --> 00:25:05.759 Um we do surveys all the time. 00:25:05.920 --> 00:25:12.720 I don't know who the we is, people do surveys all the time of just the church life of what's going on in church world. 00:25:12.799 --> 00:25:15.519 And and so uh, you know, they ask questions, do you go to church? 00:25:15.599 --> 00:25:16.400 Are you a church person? 00:25:16.480 --> 00:25:17.519 What religion do you believe in? 00:25:17.599 --> 00:25:18.640 You know, all that kind of stuff. 00:25:18.799 --> 00:25:26.960 And when people say I'm a church-going person, one of the follow-up questions in these surveys is okay, if you're a church-going person, how often do you go to church? 00:25:27.200 --> 00:25:31.680 And the American average is 1.6 Sundays a month. 00:25:31.839 --> 00:25:35.440 That's how often church-going people go to church. 00:25:35.759 --> 00:25:38.880 And um by the way, that might be you. 00:25:38.960 --> 00:25:39.759 No, no shame. 00:25:39.839 --> 00:25:44.720 If that's you, if your relationship with Alderman is that you come every once in a while, uh, no shame. 00:25:44.880 --> 00:25:49.680 You know, following Jesus is just about taking one step of faith at a time. 00:25:49.920 --> 00:25:56.400 And if the step of faith for you right now is just showing up to church, praise God, uh, keep doing it. 00:25:56.960 --> 00:26:03.279 But I also can't hide from you the reality that God has more for you than that. 00:26:03.440 --> 00:26:05.920 He has more for us than that. 00:26:06.319 --> 00:26:15.680 When we think about a community that's gonna show the world the reality of Jesus, it's gonna take more than just something we attend on occasion. 00:26:15.920 --> 00:26:22.160 It's gonna take uh real life together, it's gonna take actually loving one another. 00:26:22.319 --> 00:26:24.319 And love takes time. 00:26:24.960 --> 00:26:27.119 Love takes sacrifice. 00:26:28.160 --> 00:26:33.519 Love is more than just being in a room together at the same time. 00:26:34.240 --> 00:26:42.640 And so the question for you is what's your role to play in making this truly a family here that reflects the love of Jesus? 00:26:42.960 --> 00:26:45.200 Have you found your place to serve yet? 00:26:45.440 --> 00:26:50.559 Have you found where you're gonna pour your life out for the good of this church family? 00:26:51.440 --> 00:26:54.799 You know, have you found your place where you're gonna share your life with others? 00:26:54.960 --> 00:26:59.359 And maybe that's you know, midweek and that's life group, or maybe it's not even a church program at all. 00:26:59.440 --> 00:27:01.519 It's just the relationships that you're pouring into here. 00:27:01.599 --> 00:27:06.799 But but have you found where church is gonna become more than just a service that you attend? 00:27:07.920 --> 00:27:17.839 Where are you reflecting the self-sacrificial pursuing love of Jesus and making us a place where the world can see who he really is? 00:27:19.039 --> 00:27:25.279 Alderwood has uh a big part in God's plan right here, right now. 00:27:26.000 --> 00:27:28.559 We've been sent into the harvest. 00:27:29.039 --> 00:27:30.640 The time is now. 00:27:31.279 --> 00:27:33.759 God doesn't want us to miss it. 00:27:34.079 --> 00:27:38.720 And so let's have eyes to see where he's calling us and let's be faithful to go where he sends. 00:27:38.960 --> 00:27:39.920 Would you pray with me? 00:27:40.400 --> 00:27:47.440 Jesus, thank you for your love of us that is so faithful, that is so patient. 00:27:47.839 --> 00:28:03.759 Thank you for the way that you are gentle with us, that when we miss the big picture, when we are just consumed with the here and now, you love us, but you you love us enough not to leave us there. 00:28:03.839 --> 00:28:05.839 And so would you open our eyes, God? 00:28:06.559 --> 00:28:12.640 Would you give us a bigger view of why our lives matter, of what we're doing here? 00:28:14.000 --> 00:28:18.160 Would you show us the ways that you're inviting us to be a part of your story? 00:28:18.480 --> 00:28:22.319 And God, we we want to see your name lifted high. 00:28:22.559 --> 00:28:29.440 We want to see people respond in faith to who Jesus is and what he's done for us. 00:28:29.599 --> 00:28:31.119 We we want to be a part of that, Lord. 00:28:31.200 --> 00:28:36.400 And so use our lives and use our church in whatever way you want to be a part of your kingdom work. 00:28:37.839 --> 00:28:39.839 We give it all to you in Jesus' name. 00:28:40.160 --> 00:28:40.799 Amen.